Most Austrians would buy less online and switch back to traditional shops rather than have to payan additional charge to return unwanted goods ordered from e-retailers, according to an in-depth
survey of the country’s B2C parcels market.An end to ‘free returns’ would “definitely” change the online shopping habits of 56 per centof Austrians and “possibly” those of a further 27 per cent, leaving only 16 per cent who wouldcontinue to shop as before if they had to pay for returns, a survey by researchers Kreutzer Fischer& Partner for Austrian Post found. Under new EU regulations, e-retailers are entitled to chargeadditional fees for returns.
“The frequently discussed introduction of a returns postage charge would have a significantimpact on the shopping behaviour of 80 per cent of consumers. Of these, 60 per cent would orderless and 40 per cent would order more selectively, in order to avoid returns and thus also costs,”commented agency owner Andreas Kreutzer. A fee would thus negatively impact on e-commerce parcelvolumes in Austria.
At present, Austrians can return goods bought online free of charge. Austrian Post handles95 per cent of these returns, which are overwhelmingly (89 per cent) made through post officecounters, the survey of 1,000 online shoppers found. Parcels can also be returned round-the-clockat 200 post office self-service zones.
According to the survey, about 70 per cent of Austrians shop at least once every six monthson the internet, including 90 per cent of consumers aged between 15 and 30. Clothes, shoes andleather goods (41 per cent), media such as books, CDs and software (31 per cent), and electronicgoods and computers (19 per cent) are the top three product categories.
In volume terms, the Austrian B2C parcels market now totals 42 million parcels a year, 1.5per cent more than in 2013. Some 9 million parcels are returns, with clothing representing about 80per cent of returned goods.
About 71 per cent of parcels are successfully delivered at the first attempt, with 75 percent of these made directly to the recipient, 9 per cent via neighbours and 14 per cent collectedat postal branches, the survey found.
Austrian Post said that it is developing new services to increase the proportion ofsuccessful first-time deliveries. The company has installed 7,300 ‘parcel boxes’ in apartmentblocks which can only be opened by the recipient with an RFID chip. In addition, consumers can usethe new Post App to re-direct deliveries to an alternative address.
By the end of this year, the postal operator aims to introduce a delivery timeslot of 2-3hours, and inform recipients by e-mail or SMS when their parcel is likely to be delivered.
Peter Umundum, Austrian Post’s head of parcels & logistics, said: “Parcel re-directionand the digital ‘yellow card’ are just some of the innovations with which we are making an impactin the competitive parcels market. Austrian Post is working continuously on innovations, such assame-day delivery or evening delivery. We see ourselves as an innovator and driver in the parcelsbusiness and we are a strong partner for distance traders.”
